Department for Transport

Road Traffic: Urban Areas

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to deal with traffic congestion in towns and cities.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government has an ambitious strategy for tackling congestion in our cities and towns and improving performance on our roads. This strategy includes providing significant investment in both our strategic and localroad network, as well as working with highway authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships to encourage more sustainable transport including buses, light rail and walking and cycling.In addition, Part 2 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 ("the Act") specifically places a Network Management Duty (NMD) on each local traffic authority in England to manage its road network to secure the expeditious movement of traffic on its own network and to facilitate the same on the network of other authorities. Coordination of activities and actions between authorities is an especially important element of network management.The Act is intended to provide better conditions for all road users through coordination and proactive management of the road network. It provides a key tool in the Government's strategy to tackle congestion through a range of initiatives including for example, better management of street works in order to minimise disruption and delivering fairer systems for civil parking and traffic enforcement.

Road Traffic: Cardiff

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there has been any research into the effect of the introduction of the Traffic Management Act 2004 on congestion in Cardiff, as opposed to other cities.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Not by Her Majesty’s Government. This is a devolved matter and so would be for the Welsh Government or the relevant traffic authority in Cardiff.

Bus Services: Urban Areas

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect that congestion in urban areas is having on the cost and attractiveness of bus travel to travellers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Department for Transport has not conducted a specific assessment of the effect that congestion in urban areas is having on the cost and attractiveness of bus travel to travellers.

Epsom Station

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Govia Thameslink Railway about whether it still intends to activate the Oyster card reader installed at Epsom station, and if so, when it intends to do so.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: There has been numerous discussions between my officials and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) on the franchise obligation to extend Oyster pay as you go and Contactless payment to Epsom. GTR is currently working with TfL closely to deliver this as soon as is practical and we are applying lessons learned from extending Oyster to Gatwick to extending Oyster to Epsom.

Shared Spaces

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they encourage local authorities and other interested organisations to share best practice regarding the introduction and operation of shared space for vehicles and pedestrians.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: To help identify and disseminate good practice in implementing shared space, the Department for Transport is working with the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, who are preparing updated guidance. This work aims to use the practical experience gained from recent shared space schemes to provide good practice advice to local authorities and other interested organisations. To help inform this work, as the Minister responsible for this issue, my Hon Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, the Hon Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Andrew Jones, has written to all local authorities asking them to provide information on relevant schemes to the Department by the end of November.

Ministry of Defence

Syria: Military Intervention

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what part of the defence budget is allocated for military action in Syria.

Earl Howe: In agreement with Her Majesty's Treasury, the Ministry of Defence draws upon the Special Reserve to meet the net additional costs for operations. As such, no part of the Defence budget is specifically allocated for military action in Syria.

Warships

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, whether they plan for the Royal Navy to have a two-tier escort force in the future.

Earl Howe: In addition to setting out the Government's commitment to build eight Type 26 anti-submarine warfare ships, the statement by the Prime Minister on the outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Official Report, column 1049 dated 23 November 2015) announced the launch of a concept study for a new class of lighter, flexible general purpose frigates, so that by the 2030s we can further increase the total number of frigates and destroyers. This study will consider the utility of the new frigate within the wider force structure across the spectrum of tasks the Royal Navy undertakes.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Disclosure of Information

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what non-disclosure agreements the FCO made in 2003–04, and on what date each agreement was made.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office no longer retains case files for employment tribunals for 2003 and 2004. However our records indicate we settled two 2 cases in each year. Settlement agreements at that time included a standard confidentiality or non-disclosure clause.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Human Trafficking

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of (1) the role of law enforcement in Sub-Saharan Africa in deterring and apprehending people smugglers, and (2) the capacity of those forces to fulfil that role.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: At the Valletta Summit on 11 and 12 November, EU and African leaders made clear their shared determination to provide a comprehensive solution to irregular migration that deals with the root causes as well as responds to the consequences. Both European and African law enforcement agencies have an important role to play in delivering that solution. A key tenet of the Action Plan agreed at the Summit was to strengthen further our collective efforts to prevent and fight against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings through effective border management, enhanced intelligence-sharing and the implementation of the relevant legal frameworks. Through the new EU Trust Fund on migration, as well as bilateral activity, we will help build the capacity of law enforcement agencies in Africa to go after the criminal gangs and smuggling networks that profit from human misery. In Valetta the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), announced further funding for the UK’s Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce, now totalling £50million for 2015-2020. The Taskforce brings together officers from the National Crime Agency, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service with the task of pursuing and disrupting organised crime groups involved in the people smuggling trade in countries of source, transit and destination.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Migration

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the resources allocated by the EU to address the root causes of informal migration in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK welcomes the EU’s ongoing, and growing, commitment to supporting development in Africa. At the Valletta Summit, EU and African leaders made clear their shared determination to provide a comprehensive solution to irregular migration that deals with the root causes as well as responds to the consequences. To support these efforts the EU launched a £1.3billion Trust Fund to improve stability in Africa and tackle the drivers of migration, to which the UK announced a £2million direct contribution. Factoring in our contribution via other EU funds, the UK’s total contribution to the overall fund is approximately £187million. In total the EU will spend around €10billion in Africa between now and 2020 to help create jobs, security, better living standards and better governance. We believe that this increased assistance will play an important role in helping tackle the root causes of irregular migration.Member States also contribute through bilateral funding, and the UK alone provides £4billion a year in aid to Africa. At Valletta the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), announced an additional £200 million package for Africa, which will help build more resilience to economic and environmental pressures; support those displaced by recent crises; and provide greater access to services, education and economic development programmes.

Burma: War Crimes

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports from the Shan Human Rights Foundation that between 9 and 12 November the Burmese Army carried out shelling and aerial bombing of Mong Nawng and that those attacks constitute war crimes.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are concerned by reports of continued fighting in Shan State, including around Mong Nawng and Wanhai, which the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates has displaced approximately 6,000 people since 6 October. Our Ambassador in Rangoon raised our concerns about the conflict in Shan with the Burmese military on 20 November. The UK has played a leading role in supporting efforts to broker ceasefire agreements, funding expert advice to both sides in support of dialogue and peacemaking.We welcomed the signing of a ceasefire agreement on 15 October and we continue to urge armed groups who did not sign the ceasefire and the Burmese government to engage in ceasefire talks to bring the conflict to an end.The UK has made no assessment of whether these allegations amount to war crimes. Any determination as to whether specific international crimes have occurred is a matter for an international judicial decision rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

North Korea: Refugees

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of China about not returning to North Korea nine refugees transferred to China from Vietnam; what assessment they have made of conclusions by Human Rights Watch that, should those refugees be repatriated, they will be at grave risk; and what assessment the British Ambassador in Pyongyang has made of the fate of other refugees returned to North Korea.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware of the situation and are discussing the case with the relevant authorities. We raise the issue of non-refoulement with the Chinese government regularly, including at the last UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

Namibia: Germany

Lord Steel of Aikwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the steps taken by the government of Germany in respect of acts committed by their colonial troops against the Herero and Nama people in South-West Africa in 1904–1908; whether they intend to take similar steps; and whether they will support requests for compensation.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The British Government has not made any assessment of the steps taken by the Government of Germany in respect of this matter. The issue of compensation is a bilateral matter between the governments of Germany and Namibia.

Turkey: Politics and Government

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Turkey about the arrest and charging of Figen Yüksekdag, co-chair of the HDP Party; and whether they will press for her trial to be observed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: A request has reportedly been filed to allow proceedings against Mrs Yüksekdag but we are not aware of her arrest. As a member of the Turkish Parliament she enjoys immunity from prosecution, which would need to be lifted or given up for her to face trial. Officials from our Embassy in Ankara regularly observe trials in Turkey.

Egypt: Gaza

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Egypt about the alleged involvement of Egyptian forces in the death at sea of Firas Miqdad, a fisherman from Gaza.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware of reports of an incident on 5 November involving an Egyptian naval vessel and a Palestinian fishing vessel, leading to the death of the fisherman Firas Miqdad.Details of the incident remain unclear. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials will continue to monitor this case.

Iraq: Detainees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are making representations to the Kurdistan Regional Government about the case of Niaz Aziz Saleh.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We have not made representations to the Kurdistan Regional Government on this particular case. However, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and officials at our Consulate General in Erbil regularly raise human rights concerns with the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Israel: Palestinians

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel following the Decision adopted by the IPU's Governing Council meeting on 21 October concerning Palestinian parliamentarians, in particular about the health of those parliamentarians being detained, access for family visits, and grounds for early release.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We remain concerned about Israel’s extensive use of administrative detention which, in accordance with international law, should not be used as routine practice, and should be a preventive rather than a punitive measure. We have not specifically raised the cases of detained Palestinian Legislative Council members. On 3 November officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised the issue of administrative detention with Israeli officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the draft bill setting up the Historical Investigations Unit and other legacy bodies that was presented to political parties at the recent negotiations held under the Belfast Agreement 1998.

Lord Dunlop: The recent negotiations established substantial common ground between the parties on how to establish the legacy bodies identified in the Stormont House Agreement.The Government is currently reflecting on how we can move forward and achieve broad consensus in support of legislation to establish these legacy bodies.

Northern Ireland (Elections) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2015

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the decision was taken to lay the Northern Ireland (Elections) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2015 on 2 November, and which Ministers were involved in taking the decision.

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date (1) the Chief Electoral Officer, and (2) the Electoral Commission, was consulted on the Northern Ireland (Elections) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2015.

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland was advised of the impact on the criminal offence of breach of official duty as a result of the changes relating to the correction of procedural error made by the Northern Ireland (Elections) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2015.

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland was advised of the impact on the criminal offence of breach of official duty as a result of the changes relating to the correction of procedural error made by the Northern Ireland (Elections) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2015.

Lord Dunlop: Northern Ireland Office Ministers took the decision to lay the Northern Ireland (Elections) (Amendment) (No.2) Order 2015 on 30 October 2015, following discussions with Ministerial colleagues at the Cabinet Office. Northern Ireland Office officials began work on the Order in May 2015, although work was delayed by the department’s focus on the Northern Ireland Talks process. The Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland was advised of the impact of the proposed changes relating to procedural error by letter on 31 July 2015. The Chief Electoral Officer expressed support for the proposed content of the Order in meetings in June 2015. The Electoral Commission was consulted on the Order on 1 October 2015. As the Explanatory Memorandum to the Order sets out, there are significant differences in the systems operating in Northern Ireland and Great Britain and a one size fits all approach is not justified.

Biometrics: Databases

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Dunlop on 4 November (HL3009), why investigation of historic crime in Northern Ireland, including the retention of fingerprint and DNA samples from non-convicted individuals, requires different provisions to the rest of the UK, and whether they plan to seek permission for any non-compliance of those provisions with Article 8 of the ECHR.

Lord Dunlop: The investigation of historic deaths creates particular difficulties because the evidential trail has significantly narrowed. Forensic evidence, including fingerprint and DNA evidence, is therefore a key element in Troubles-related investigations, as it presents the strongest strand of investigative opportunity.Dealing with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past is an essential part of the transition to long term peace and stability – this is not a consideration which applies in the same way in the rest of the UK. It is disappointing that agreement was not reached in the recent political talks on the proposed institutions for dealing with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland.The Government remains fully committed to working alongside the Northern Ireland parties, victims groups and other stakeholders to deliver the institutions intended to achieve broad consensus for legislation and deliver new legacy mechanisms. The Government is satisfied that the retention of relevant biometric data for the purpose of investigating Troubles-related crimes is proportionate.We are working closely with the Northern Ireland Department of Justice to ensure that any proposal to retain relevant data will strike the appropriate balance between Article 2 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and be compatible with the judgment of the European Court in Marper.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Tickets: Sales

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 2 November (HL2909) regarding breaches of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 by ticket resale websites, what action they are taking to highlight to the general public (1) the existence of, and (2) the functions of, the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government advises consumers through Gov.uk to contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline, which is funded by BIS, on any questions relating to consumer law, including ticket resales. The helpline advises consumers on their rights and remedies and will pass on complaints to Trading Standards where appropriate.Awareness of the helpline is also raised through national consumer campaigns such as Scams Awareness Month and National Consumer Week which Government supports through the Consumer Protection Partnership. Citizens Advice produces leaflets and other materials informing consumers of their rights and how to look out for scams.

Tickets: Sales

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many actions have been taken by the police and trading standards regarding breaches of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in relation to ticket resale websites.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Such information on breaches of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in relation to ticket re-sale websites is not currently held by or routinely made available to the Government.The Independent Review of Secondary Ticketing required by the Consumer Rights Act will consider evidence and report by 26 May 2016.

Rolls-Royce

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take, if any, to help Britain’s aerospace and defence industry in the light of Rolls-Royce’s fifth profit warning in 21 months.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government is working with Britain’s aerospace and defence industry through the Aerospace Growth Partnership and the Defence Growth Partnership to remove barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs.As part of this work we are supporting the industry’s investment in technology, competitiveness and productivity, and skills, to help ensure the UK remains one of the world’s leading aerospace and defence nationsAt the Spending Review, the Government protected and extended spending on the Aerospace Technology Institute.

Department for Education

Children in Care

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to continue the operation of the Care Leaver Strategy, and what plans they have to ensure that cross-departmental work to support care leavers is maintained.

Lord Nash: In 2013, the government published the Care Leaver Strategy. That document set out plans to improve support for care leavers, including in housing, health, employment and education. In 2014, the Department for Education reported that the commitments contained in the Care Leaver Strategy had been implemented or were in the process of being so.We recognise, however, that many young people leaving care still face significant challenges. That is why my colleague, the Minister for Children and Families, recently announced that he has asked officials within the department to lead the development of a refreshed strategy, to be published next year. That work will include a consideration of how government departments and agencies can best work together, on an ongoing basis, to ensure that care leavers are offered the support they need in order to manage the transition to independent living successfully.

London Metropolitan University

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have purchased 41–71 Commercial Road, Aldgate, which is currently part of the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design, from London Metropolitan University; and if so, (1) when; (2) which department purchased that building; (3) what was the asking price; (4) how much they paid; (5) whether the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design is being instructed to vacate the premises, and if so, when; and (6) how they intend to use the building in future.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education purchased the Commercial Road site in the name of the Department for Communities and Local Government in June 2015. The site has been leased back to London Metropolitan University until August 2016, after which the site will be developed into a school building. The price paid for the site can be obtained from the land registry.

Faith Schools

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how the religious character of a faith school will be maintained if the school is converted into an academy.

Lord Nash: When a faith school becomes an academy it retains its religious character by virtue of Section 6 of the Academies Act 2010. The academy’s religious character is protected through provisions within the academy’s funding agreement with the Secretary of State and the academy trust’s articles of association. Once a faith school becomes an academy any change to its religious character would only take place with the consent of the relevant religious body and the Secretary of State.

Students: Per Capita Costs

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current level of per capita funding for students in (1) school sixth forms in schools, (2) sixth form colleges, and (3) further education colleges.

Lord Nash: Funding for all 16-19 institutions comes from the same national funding formula. The national base rate for 16-19 year olds in full time education is £4,000 per student. Weightings related to disadvantage, programme costs and area costs are added to the base rate funding, to reflect additional costs faced by different institutions.The overall average units of funding for the 2015/16 academic year are:Schools and Academy Sixth Forms£4,567Sixth Form Colleges£4,670General Further Education and Specialist Colleges£4,973

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Gender Recognition

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many transgender prisoners are gaoled in a prison for people of their previous gender designation.

Lord Faulks: This information is not held centrally. The Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 20 November that HM Government will publish data on the number of trans people in prison in due course.

Youth Offending Teams

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many youth offending teams have dyslexic accreditation.

Lord Faulks: Information on the number of Youth Offending Teams with dyslexic accreditation is not held centrally.

The Lord Chairman of Committees

Public Acts

Lord Naseby: To ask the Chairman of Committees what consultation there has been about the proposals for record copies of public acts to be printed on paper rather than vellum.

Lord Laming: The House of Lords agreed to cease using vellum for public Acts in 1999, with a resolution to that effect being passed on 14 October 1999. At that time, the change was not agreed by the House of Commons.Since then the House of Lords has continued to pay for the production of two copies of each public Act of Parliament, printed on vellum. (One copy is retained in the Parliamentary Archives; one copy is sent to the National Archives.) The Lords has done this even though it is not in accord with the October 1999 resolution of this House.In the past six years (2009/10 to 2014/15) the Lords has spent a total of £620,440 on vellum Acts; an average of just over £103,000 per year.This is despite the availability of archival paper which is of extremely high quality and durability. Private Acts of Parliament have been printed on archival quality paper since 1956, and I am not aware that vellum is now used for any other governmental or parliamentary records.The National Archives have confirmed the view they took in 1999; that they do not require a vellum copy, and that archival quality paper is sufficient to maintain the public record.Switching from vellum to high quality archival paper would, on a conservative estimate, save approximately 80% on current costs - or around £80,000 per year. The exact level of savings to public funds will depend on the number of Acts passed, and number of pages per Act, per year, and the precise specification and contractual arrangements agreed for future printing.As well as being an expensive raw material, vellum requires a highly specialised form of printing which is not widely available, the machinery for which is expensive to maintain, and which is likely to be more difficult to procure on the expiry of the House’s current printing contract in March 2016.As the start of a new Parliament seemed a natural point at which to implement the change previously agreed by this House, the main party Leaders, the Convenor and the Lord Speaker were consulted early in the present session, and the House Committee was informed in July 2015. I then wrote to the Chairman of the House of Commons Administration Committee on 17 September to invite that House to agree to the change.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Imperial War Museum: Education

Lord Lansley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money has been (1) provided, and (2) committed through to 2018–19, from the LIBOR fines to support the Imperial War Museum's educational work; and how that money has been disbursed or allocated by the museum.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Thanks to my noble friend's work in this area, and the Chancellor's commitment to use fines paid by banks for good causes, £8 million has been committed from the LIBOR funds to support the Imperial War Museum’s education work over the period 2015-2019. The Museum has allocatedaround£2 million for each year of this period and a total of £1.3m has been invested so far in 2015-2016 on ongoing education work. This includes support to the First World War Centenary learning programme with over 3,500 member organisations from more than 50 different countries including universities, museums, schools, libraries, archives, operas, orchestras and local community organisations.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Coastal Areas: Access

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on completing the coastal path in England.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The coastal access programme has so far opened up 101 miles of our beautiful coastline for everyone to enjoy, boosting local tourism and growing the rural economy.The Government is working closely with Natural England to build on the progress already made, with the aim of completing the coastal path around England by 2020. We have approved Natural England’s coastal access proposals for a further 176 miles. By the end of this financial year we expect Natural England to have submitted proposals for another 349 miles and to be working on proposals for an additional 986 miles.The Government has announced Defra’s capital allocation for the next five years, and funding to complete the coastal path around England by 2020 will be protected. When complete, the path will be one of longest coastal walking routes in the world at around 2,700 miles in length.The Government will publish the detailed allocation of funding in the Department’s Main Estimate early next year.

Countryside: Access

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the land in England is open access land, and what plans they have to increase that amount.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 there is a right of access for open-air recreation on foot to 2,137,756 acres of land which are mapped as open country and registered common land. This is about 6.5% of the total area of England.Section 16 of the Act enables the owner, or a person with a long-leasehold, of any land to voluntarily dedicate open access rights over that land. To date, 384,419 acres of land have been dedicated, mostly by the Forestry Commission.Natural England is aiming to dedicate all 224 of the national nature reserves and similar holdings it owns, or land held on a lease of at least 90 years. Natural England has dedicated 31,876 acres of national nature reserves with a further 2,915 acres becoming accessible on 7 February 2016.

Litter

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance they plan to give to the Clean For The Queen campaign, which aims to conduct a nationwide litter cleaning campaign next year to celebrate Her Majesty's 90th birthday.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government is delighted to support and endorse this excellent initiative. Litter and fly-tipping blight communities and pose a risk to human health, which is why tackling them is a priority for the Government. The Minister for Environment and Rural Affairs gave his backing to the campaign when it was launched, and we will continue to promote it, to help reach as many people as possible.Our experience with the first Community Clear-Up Day in March demonstrated the enthusiasm and willingness of people across England to give some of their time to improve their local environment. The Clean for The Queen campaign provides a great opportunity for people to come together and clean up our local streets and parks.We hope the campaign will help lead to a lasting legacy of a cleaner, tidier Britain

Home Office

Visas: Carers

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to relaxing visa restrictions for those seeking to come to Britain as carers in order tackle nursing and care home staffing shortages.

Lord Bates: Tier 2 of the Points Based System for immigration - the skilled work route - has been reserved for graduate occupations since 2011. Carers do not qualify for entry to the UK under this route and sponsors are therefore unable to bring in workers from outside the EEA to fill such roles.While the Government acknowledges that care work requires certain skills, it should be possible to source those skills from the resident workforce. The care sector, like others, needs to reduce its dependency on migration and develop a sustainable strategy for tackling high vacancy and turnover rates by doing more to attract, train and retain resident workers.

Undocumented Migrants: Finance

Baroness Hamwee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the joint central and local government working group referred to in paragraph 3.3 of their response to the consultation on reforming support for failed asylum seekers and other illegal migrants has met, and whether they will publish the minutes of that group's meetings.

Lord Bates: The working group has so far met on two occasions, on 10 September and 6 October. Formal minutes of these meetings were not taken. It is anticipated that a further meeting of the working group will be held shortly.

Human Trafficking: Sub-Saharan Africa

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures were adopted at the Valetta Conference to strengthen law enforcement action against people smugglers in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to increase awareness amongst local populations in Sub-Saharan Africa of the dangers of informal migration routes across the Sahara and the Mediterranean.

Lord Bates: The UK played a leading role in agreeing an Action Plan at the Valletta Conference that will drive constructive and coherent joint action to tackle the causes as well as the consequences of current migratory pressures from Africa. In particular, the Action Plan sets out a series of initiatives to strengthen law enforcement action against people smugglers, and to increase awareness amongst populations in Sub-Saharan Africa of the dangers of illegal migration, as follows:• Establish or upgrade national and regional anti-smuggling and anti-trafficking legislation, policies and action plans in countries and regions of origin and transit of migration. Identify single national contact points for anti-smuggling and trafficking activities to enhance cooperation, including with counterparts in EU Member States and associated countries and in Europol• Implement projects focused on strengthening institutional capacities to fight against the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings networks, both in origin and transit countries located along the West Sahel routes, and raise awareness on this problem among the populations concerned• Set up a joint investigation team in Niger against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings networks, as a pilot project to be potentially replicated in other countries or regions at their request• Organise information campaigns in countries of origin, transit and destination, to raise awareness of the general public and potential migrants and victims on the dangers of trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants, their recruitment processes, including through public broadcasting services programmes aimed at informing the general public and potential migrants about the migratory situation in EuropeWe are now focused on working with EU and African partners to implement the Action Plan quickly and fully.

Undocumented Migrants: Finance

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of respondents supported each of the proposals in the consultation Reforming support for failed asylum seekers and other illegal migrants.

Lord Bates: The consultation response published on 5 November 2015 provides an overview of the responses, including by category of respondent, and summarises the responses to the proposals and questions set out in the consultation document. The individual responses varied in scope, detail and the extent to which they directly addressed those proposals and questions and it is not possible therefore to quantify the responses in the manner sought.

Religious Hatred: Islam

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures are being taken in the UK to safeguard moderate Muslims from Islamophobic crime, in the light of the recent terrorist attacks around the world.

Lord Bates: The Government takes the safety of the Muslim and all other communities extremely seriously, and deplores all forms of hate crime. We are concerned by reports of increased attacks against Muslims in recent weeks, and we are working with the police and community groups on monitoring the situation and taking appropriate action where required.The police constantly review events and potential threats to ensure everything is being done to protect our communities from terrorism, hate crime and the impact of public protest.After the attacks in Paris the police have increased their presence on some streets and at some locations, and they will be intensifying their approach at events in big cities. Officers are working closely with London’s communities and businesses to provide advice and reassurance. Government officials are also speaking to community organisations such as Tell MAMA to ensure that we are aware of the current issues around anti-Muslim hatred and to ensure that we increase reporting of it.The Government is committed to tackling hate crime. That is why we have announced a new cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan. This will be taken forward in partnership with the communities that it seeks to protect, and will include a range of actions across Government. We have also announced that from 2016, police forces will be expected to record data on hate crimes against Muslims and members of other religious groups, to allow us to properly assess the scale of the problem we are facing.Our Counter-Extremism Strategy, published in October, outlines how we will further protect British Muslims, including communities worried about Neo-Nazi groups who may be planning crimes such as attacks on Muslims.

Human Trafficking: Children

Lord McColl of Dulwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the final evaluation report of the trial of specialist advocates for trafficked children will be published.

Lord McColl of Dulwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will lay before Parliament a report setting out their plans in relation to independent child trafficking advocates, in accordance with section 48(7) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Lord McColl of Dulwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children who received a child trafficking advocate under the trials conducted in 2014–15 were (1) UK nationals, (2) nationals of the EU or EEA excluding UK nationals, and (3) nationals of countries not in the EU or EEA.

Lord McColl of Dulwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children were referred to the child trafficking advocate trials from each of the 23 participating local authorities.

Lord Bates: Section 48(7) of the Modern Slavery Act requires the Government to lay before Parliament a report setting out the steps it proposes to take in relation to independent child trafficking advocates within nine months of Royal Assent of the Modern Slavery Act. The Government will publish this report by 16 December, whilst Parliament is sitting. The evaluation report will be published by 16 December and set out the number of children referred into the trial and their countries of origin.

Visas

Baroness Hamwee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 25 November (HL3549), how many of the family reunion visas scheduled were granted on the basis of exceptional compelling compassionate circumstances outside the Immigration Rules, broken down by country and year.

Lord Bates: The number of applications for Family Reunion Visas that were subsequently issued Outside of the Immigration Rules can be found in the table below.It is not possible to give a breakdown by country or nationality.Year2011201220132014TotalNumber of applications granted outside the rules77301812137

Forced Marriage

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Bates on 25 November (HL Deb, col 691), whether they plan to introduce primary legislation in relation to extraterritorial jurisdiction when dealing with forced marriages; whether they will then fully ratify the Istanbul Convention; and if so, what is the expected timetable for doing so.

Lord Bates: We have already taken extra-territorial jurisdiction on forced marriage through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. However we will need to take extra-territorial jurisdiction over a number of other offences in order to be fully compliant with Article 44 of the convention. Primary legislation will be required and the Government is currently considering the approach to implementing the extra-territorial provisions and working with devolved administrations regarding ratification. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for introducing further amendments to domestic law to be able to take extra-territorial jurisdiction over the remaining offences and will seek to legislate as soon as the approach is agreed and Parliamentary time allows. The Government takes its international commitments very seriously and will only commit to such ratification when we are absolutely satisfied that we comply with all articles.

Refugees: Children

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of (1) the number of unaccompanied refugee children who are waiting at or near Calais and other Channel ports on the European mainland in the hope of crossing to England, and (2) how many of those are dependents or close relatives of persons who are living in the UK.

Lord Bates: The management of the migrant camps in Calais is the responsibility of the French Government. The UK Government does not routinely assess the numbers of migrants (including children) in Calais, or hold a breakdown of their ages. EU asylum rules oblige Member States to bring together close family members, including children. For a refugee child to be reunited with family members in the UK, a claim must first be lodged with the French authorities. The French and UK Governments are actively encouraging and assisting migrants in the Calais area to claim asylum in France.

HM Treasury

Public Expenditure

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to use the forthcoming spending review to act on the findings of the Institute for Government report Managing with Less, in particularly the finding that "some government targets....look unachievable".

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The Government receives a wide range of representations which inform the Spending Review process. The Spending Review has now been published and is available in the Library of the House and on gov.uk .

Living Wage

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the additional anticipated receipts for HM Treasury as a result of the implementation of the National Living Wage in each year from 2016 to 2020.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: As set out in Table B.3 of their July 2015 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility estimate that, in 2016-17, the National Living Wage will leave receipts broadly unchanged. In 2017-18 and 2018-19, income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) receipts are projected to stay constant but the overall impact of the policy on the public finances is forecast to reduce public sector net borrowing by £0.1bn. In 2019-0 and 2020-21, the policy is expected to increase income tax and NICs receipts by £0.1bn and reduce public sector net borrowing by £0.2bn.

Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average time it takes HMRC to respond to written communications from (1) small businesses, and (2) personal taxpayers.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not collect data in such a way that the average waiting time for responses to written communications can be calculated. The performance is measured as a percentage of post cleared within 15 and 40 working days of receipt. HMRC has published the information on the performance results including post turnaround in the Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15.HMRC’s data on response times for written communication cannot be easily analysed by customer group.

Government Departments: Telephone Services

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of what is an acceptable average period for (1) small businesses, and (2) personal taxpayers, to wait for their calls to a government department to be answered.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Revenue and Customs has a target to handle 80 per cent of call attempts to their contact centre helplines. It also aims to answer calls within 5 minutes.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce HMRC’s delays in answering telephone enquiries.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recognise that their customer service has not been good enough, and have taken major steps to improve, including recruiting 3,000 new staff into customer service roles, available outside normal office hours when many of their customers choose to call. This year has seen their biggest-ever training programme as HMRC build customer support teams that can move across a wide range of work according to customer demand. By the end of December 1,600 existing staff will be trained to cover a wider range of work. Hundreds of these people are already taking calls. These improvements have started to make a difference. Last month, HMRC answered more than 80 per cent of calls, and average queue times are now around 10 minutes or less.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cost to (1) small businesses, and (2) personal taxpayers, of HMRC’s delays in answering telephone enquiries in terms of lost productivity.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Revenue and Customs has not made such an assessment.

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much was deducted from the Northern Ireland Executive’s budget in 2014–15 and 2015–16 due to its failure to implement welfare reforms.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: As a result of the delays in implementing welfare reform in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Northern Ireland Executive’s budget was reduced by £87m in 2014-15 and £114m in 2015-16 to reflect the additional costs to the Exchequer of the existing welfare system.As a part of the ‘Fresh Start’ agreement to facilitate the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement, the government committed to returning a proportion of the deduction for 2015-16 when the Assembly gave legislative consent for the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Act 2015. This will be added to the Executive’s allocations in 2016-17 and 2017-18.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Disclosure of Information

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether all quasi-judicial decisions made by government departments or agencies should be made public.

Lord Bridges of Headley: There are a wide variety of quasi-judicial decisions and each are subject to different statutory requirements. In many cases the reasons behind the decisions are published with the decisions, for instance where a Secretary of State decides to make, or not make, a Development Consent Order under the Planning Act 2008, the decision letter and associated order, if applicable, must be published.There are several reasons why decisions might not be published and those include national security, sensitive personal data or commercial sensitivity.

Department of Health

Tobacco

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to take steps to ensure that all grants awarded by the tobacco policy team in the Department of Health are awarded on a competitive basis.

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received about the funding provided by the Department of Health to Action on Smoking and Health in the last five years.

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any grant has been provided to Action on Smoking and Health in the last five years other than through grants under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968, and if so, what was the nature and value of each grant.

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House the assessment by the Department of Health’s Voluntary Sector Grants Hub of the grant applications made by Action on Smoking and Health in each of the last five years.

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any grant application by or award made to Action on Smoking and Health by the Department of Health in the last five years was not considered first by the Voluntary Sector Grants Hub.

Lord Prior of Brampton: All grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in the last five years have been awarded under Section 64 powers. There are a range of different circumstances under which it would not be appropriate or represent best value for money to run a competed scheme. The grants awarded to ASH have been assessed as most appropriate for the non-competed route.The assessment of any grant application for funding from ASH is undertaken by members of the Tobacco Control policy team. Following this assessment, the Grants Hub makes a decision regarding whether or not to approve the application. These policy assessments contain policy advice to Ministers and so are not made public. Approvals are required from Ministers and from HM Treasury or are subject to a Departmental approval process that has been agreed with HM Treasury.To identify relevant representations the Department has received would result in disproportionate cost.

Social Services: Finance

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the viability of (1) the care home sector, and (2) the private home care provider sector, in the light of local government expenditure restraint and the implementation of the National Living Wage.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government has engaged with the care sector, including care providers, to understand the impact on the market arising from amongst other things, local authority commissioning behaviour and the introduction of the National Living Wage. This has included a number of deep dive sessions held with both care home businesses and providers of home care services.As part of its spending plans for the next four years the Government is giving local authorities access to £3.5 billion of new support for adult social care by 2019/20. Local authorities will be able to introduce a new Social Care Precept, allowing them to increase council tax by 2% above the existing threshold. The Government estimates this could raise nearly £2 billion a year for adult social care by 2019/20.Councils will need to increase the price they pay for care to cover costs for care providers such as the National Living Wage. To support this, the Social Care Precept puts money raising powers into the hands of local authorities which are best placed to target resources based on their understanding of their local care market.

Health Professions: Regulation

Baroness Gould of Potternewton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reform the legislation regarding health professional regulation, and whether they will publish a timetable for the implementation of any reform bill.

Lord Prior of Brampton: This Government is grateful for the work of the Law Commissions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in reviewing the regulation of health and (in England) social care professionals.The Law Commissions made 125 recommendations to reform the existing complex and burdensome regulatory system. The joint four United Kingdom country response to the Law Commissions was published on 29 January 2015 which accepted wholly or in part the vast majority of its recommendations.The Department is currently reviewing how best to take forward the work of the Law Commissions. We hope to be able to provide an update on this work soon.